Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit Or Severe Disablement

Mortality Statistics:

Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement

Allowance

Additional information on those who have died after claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB) or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA).

August 2015

Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

Introduction

This statistical release provides information on those who have died after claiming

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB) or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) in Great Britain in response to a number of Freedom of Information requests. This publication supplies the exact figures asked for in those requests, as well as further commentary on the appropriate use of this information.

The figures in this release are derived from administrative data held by the

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the analysis only applies to working age recipients. Some of the figures supplied are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official

Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Any causal effect between benefits and mortality cannot be assumed from these statistics.

Additionally, these isolated figures provide limited scope for analysis and nothing can be gained from this publication that would allow the reader to form any judgement as to the effects or impacts of the Work Capability Assessment.

However, the combination of an historical time series and comparable rates in the related statistical publication on mortality rates for out-of -work working age benefit claimants 1 allows users to analyse the information more easily and look at the longer term trends.

The data used in the analysis below uses the benefit off-flows data for IB/SDA and ESA and the mortality data relating to those off-flows. The data for ESA includes information on the phase of the ESA claim at the time of off-flow. Please note that most ESA phases do not apply to those who flow off IB/SDA. A background note on the various ESA groups and phases is provided at Annex 1 of this publication.

This information, which is being released in response to the Freedom of Information requests, follows the release of more detailed experimental statistics on mortality rates for out-of-work working age benefit claimants, which uses an internationally recognised measure of age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) 2. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) use this measure in their mortality statistics as age-standardised rates allow for differences in the age structure of populations and allow valid comparisons to be made between different groups and over time.

As evidenced in those statistics, the mortality rate for out-of-work working age benefit claimants in Great Britain has fallen between 2003 and 2013 in line with the general working age population. Whilst there have been changes to the benefit system and economic climate since 2003, the mortality rate has remained around three times higher than for the general population. There are a higher proportion of people who are sick or disabled amongst those on benefits than in the general population.

1 Mortality Statistics: Out-of-Work Working Age benefit claimants, DWP August 2015

2 Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) allow for differences in the age structure of populations and allow valid comparisons to be made between different groups and over time. ASMR is an internationally recognised measure used by the Office for National Statistics. These are presented as the number of deaths per 100 thousand people. So a figure of 1,000 is equivalent to 1 in every

100 people.

Published on 27 August 2015

Page 2

Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

Information request 1

The total number of people who have died within a year of their work capability assessment since May 2010

The information requested is shown in Table 1. Please note that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) has been interpreted as the full end-to- end assessment in line with the published Official Statistics on ESA WCA. Therefore the date of the WCA decision has been used as the base.

It should also be noted that to ensure that all deaths within one year of WCA are captured accurately in relation to a measureable base, the data provided below includes WCA decisions up to 28 February 2013. This is because information relating to date of death is currently available up to 28 February 2014.

For instance, if someone received a WCA decision in January 2014 and then died in March 2014, their death would not be included in the number of deaths published below. Accordingly, so as to ensure accuracy in relation to the request, that person would not be included in the total number of individuals in receipt of a WCA decision published below.

Table 1: Total number of individuals with a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) decision between 1 May 2010 and 28 February 2013 and of those the number who died within a year of that decision, Great Britain: May 2010 to February 2014

Total number of individuals with a WCA decision between 1 May 2010 and 28 February 2013

of which:

Number who died within a year of that decision.

2,017,070

40,680

Source: DWP WPLS and data derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.

Notes:

1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2. Deaths are up to 28 February 2014 which is the latest data available therefore WCAs up to 28 February 2013 are included in the figure to allow a full year for deaths.

3. Year: a year is measured as 365 days after the WCA decision was made.

4. WCA decision: The final DWP Decision Maker’s or appeal tribunal's decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not available.

5. The figures supplied are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Published on 27 August 2015

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Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

DWP does not hold information on the reason for death, therefore no causal effect between the WCA decision and the number of people who died within a year of that decision should be assumed from these figures.

WCAs are conducted for all those individuals newly claiming ESA, current claimants requiring subsequent assessments after a prognosis period, or existing IB/SDA claimants being reassessed for ESA. This will include terminally ill claimants, and those having claimed Incapacity Benefits due to illness or disability. The number of people who died within a year of a WCA decision will therefore also include all of those categories.

Following a WCA claimants can:

• be found “fit for work” and leave the ESA benefit. These individuals may go on to claim other out-of-work benefits or be part of the general working age population not claiming benefits;

• have limited capability for work, and be placed in the ESA Work Related Activity Group; or

• have limited capability for work and in addition, limited capability for work related activity, and be placed in the Support Group.

The related age-standardised mortality rates statistical publication 3 gives more details on the population, deaths and age-standardised mortality rates 4 for ESA by phase at off-flow. It shows that the mortality rates for both out-of-work working age benefit claimants and the general working age population have fallen between 2003 and 2013.

3 Mortality Statistics: Out-of-Work Working Age benefit claimants, DWP August 2015

4 Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) allow for differences in the age structure of populations and allow valid comparisons to be made between different groups and over time. ASMR is an internationally recognised measure used by the Office for National Statistics. These are presented as the number of deaths per 100 thousand people. So a figure of 1,000 is equivalent to 1 in every

100 people.

Published on 27 August 2015

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Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

Information request 2

The number of IB and ESA claimants who have died since Nov 2011. Please break that figure down into the following categories:

a) Those that are in the assessment phase

b) Those that were found fit for work

c) Those that were placed in the work-related activity group

d) Those that were placed in the support group

e) Those who have had an appeal completed after a Fit for Work decision

The information requested for the number of IB/SDA and ESA claimants who have died is shown in table 2.1. Please note that these figures show those whose benefit claim ended as a result of their death.

Table 2.1 Total number of individuals who have flowed off IB/SDA and ESA and whose date of death was at the same time(3), Great Britain: December 2011 to February 2014

Total number of IB/SDA and ESA off-flows with date of death at the same time(3)

of which:

ESA

IB/SDA

Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)

Notes:

81,140

50,580

30,560

1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may sum due to rounding

2. Deaths are up to 28 February 2014 which is the latest data available.

3. Date of death: The WPLS records all claimants and uses information from a series of regular scans from the benefit payment systems, fortnightly for ESA and six-weekly for IB/SDA. The claim end date is sometimes missing and has to be estimated as a date between the scans and to account for this we have identified those whose date of death is up to 14 days after the estimated claim end date for ESA and up to 42 days for IB/SDA.

The Department does not hold information on the reason for death, therefore no causal effect between the benefit and the number of people who died should be assumed from these figures.

ESA was introduced in October 2008. At that time short term claims including terminally ill claimants made up a large proportion of the ESA caseload. The number of people claiming ESA increased and, following early pilots, in 2011 existing IB/SDA claimants started to be reassessed for eligibility to ESA nationwide.

Published on 27 August 2015

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Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

The related age-standardised mortality rates statistical publication 5 details these changes to the annual benefit population, and changes in the composition of the population over time, along with the number of deaths, and the age-standardised mortality rates 6, a recognised statistical measure, between 2003 and 2013.

This shows that between 2003 and 2013, the age-standardised mortality rate for those on incapacity benefits (IB/SDA and ESA) fell from 1,111 deaths per 100,000 people to 1,032 deaths per 100,000 people.

The terms requested at parts (a), (c), and (d) only apply to ESA and the relevant information is shown in table 2.2.

Table 2.2 Total number of individuals who flowed off ESA and whose date of death was at the same time(3), by ESA phase at time of latest off-flow, Great Britain: December 2011 to February 2014

Total number of ESA off-flows with date of death / 50,580
at the same time(3)
of which,
Assessment Phase / 7,540
Work Related Activity Group / 7,200
Support Group / 32,530
Unknown (4) / 3,320

Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)

Notes:

1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding

2. Deaths are up to 28 February 2014 which is the latest data available.

3. Date of death: The WPLS records all claimants and uses information from a series of regular scans from the benefit payment systems, fortnightly for ESA and six-weekly for IB/SDA. The claim end date is sometimes missing and has to be estimated as a date between the scans and to account for this we have identified those whose date of death is up to 14 days after the claim end date for ESA and up to 42 days for IB/SDA.

4. Phase of ESA claim at off-flow is only available consistently from December 2011 onwards. The phase is derived from payment details held on the source system. Where the claimant is not in receipt of any benefit payment, such as ESA (Credits only), then the

phase is shown as unknown.

The Department does not hold information on the reason for death, therefore no causal effect between the benefit and the number of people who died should be assumed from these figures.

5 Mortality Statistics: Out-of-Work Working Age benefit claimants, DWP August 2015

6 Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) allow for differences in the age structure of populations and allow valid comparisons to be made between different groups and over time. ASMR is an internationally recognised measure used by the Office for National Statistics. These are presented as the number of deaths per 100 thousand people. So a figure of 1,000 is equivalent to 1 in every

100 people.

Published on 27 August 2015

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Mortality Statistics: ESA, IB, and SDA

The related age-standardised mortality rates statistical publication 7 details these changes to the annual benefit population, and changes in the composition of the population over time, along with the number of deaths, and the age-standardised mortality rates 8, a recognised statistical measure, between 2003 and 2013.

This shows that between 2012 and 2013, the population in the ESA Support Group rose by over 80% from around 537,000 in 2012 to 971,000 in 2013.

Relevant statistics on those leaving ESA by ESA phase is only consistently available from December 2011. Whilst it is not possible to infer a trend from the two data points of 2012 and 2013, the publication shows that between 2008, when ESA was introduced, and 2013, the age-standardised mortality rate for those on incapacity benefits (IB/SDA and ESA) fell from 1,043 deaths per 100,000 people to 1,032 deaths per 100,000 people.